iKheti’s success has prompted Priyanka to take up new challenges: community farming, vertical gardening & hydroponics.

by Sohini Dey
The Better India
May 5, 2017

Excerpt:

Having reached out to over 4,000 people via personal services and workshops, Priyanka is now emphasizing on encouraging bigger groups. iKheti’s experience with a few corporate and religious institutions has also shown that farming is best effectively practised on rooftops or bigger spaces. She also works with schools, encouraging children to eat healthy and understand the value of food.

Mr Choe and Ms Khor at the rooftop of their office building. Mr Choe says: “The organic rooftop urban farm aims to show how skyrise greenery can not only look attractive and be an enjoyable space, but it can be productive too. Photo: Yen Meng Jiin

A highlight of the farm is the aquaponics system, which consists of the tilapia fish pond and a sloped planter bed.

By Tay Suan Chiang
Business Times
May 5, 2017

Excerpt:

Architectural designer Jonathan Choe says: “The organic rooftop urban farm aims to show how skyrise greenery can not only look attractive and be an enjoyable space, but it can be productive too.”

Mr Choe heads the firm’s farming club and he and his colleagues spend Friday afternoons tending to their urban farm.

Over 100 species of edible plants thrive on the rooftop farm, including herbs such as mint and dill, and vegetables such as water chestnut, sweet potato, bitter gourd, and fruits such as passionfruit, bananas, grapes and even strawberries.

Area use in ha and per cent for supplying Berlin according to type of land (left) and region of origin (right) in 2010 [own presentation and calculation based on NVS II, BMELV, FAOSTAT and others]

The article used the capital Berlin as an example to investigate different options industrialized nations (in particular urban areas) may have in order to contribute to a globally fairer and ecologically more sustainable supply system.

The future of world food security is often discussed in terms of population growth and climate change. The countries of the “Global South” are considered particularly vulnerable. However, increasing population in cities mean that food security is also of considerable relevance for the “Global North”. The focus here is not on food shortages, but on the “delocalization” of the production and consumption of food, which is making cities highly dependent on external factors.